Lumbar Laminectomy; Recovery at Home

My daughter had a lumbar laminectomy diskectomy 5 days ago. Now that we are home she is experiencing a lot of pain when she walks. She describes the pain as a shocking electrical pain that is in one leg. Does anyone have any advise as to how to help her? Is this normal?

It has been 9 days since my L4/5 discectemy and I am doing quite well. I am disappointed that my leg pain has returned, though. When I woke up after surgery, my leg pain was completely gone! Within 48 hours it was back again, the "zingers" down the front of my leg and shin area. The doctor says this is normal, and that the nerve needs time to heal. He better be right! I also have a weakness in that leg. I am trying not to do to much exercise at this point. He says to give it 2 more weeks before therapy. Anybody else have this return of pain, and if so, does it eventually go away?

i am J.R. a 34 yr old male had leg pain and foot pain since I could remember. In 2004 I had a lifting strain thought it did me in within 2 weeks i was unable to walk had sciatica and other symptoms. I was diagnosed with diginerative disc disease, Spinal stinosis,etc had an M.R.I I was told i needed a Laminectomy at L3-L4 had a Facet block which made my pain intensified. I was put on fiorinal with codeine for 18 months then lost my medical coverage. my insurance at the time wouldn't cover enough for the surgery. in 2010 finally got insurance that would cover it on Dec. 8th i had a neurosergical consult on Dec 29th had the Laminectomy best thing i have done in my life aside from having a child with my wife. regained feeling in my left foot which had been numb for over 2 years within the first 24 hours. the pain after the surgery was less than the sciatica I had been dealing with since 2004. i had always wondered what causes the stinosis on the M.R.I. report it said it was Congenital. i will never regret the decision to have the surgery the surgeon thought i would have a 20 to 60% pain relief but it's more like 80% relief or more. Hopefully it will get better over time. My surgeon saved my life as the pain had been wearing on me for so long. Thanks to doctor Vikas Mehta i'm in significantly less pain.

My surgery was in 1996, of course I had every complication you can imagine including hospital acquired MRSA. They had to go beyond the lammy and put in rods and screws which made the infection worse.

What I have learned:

If you are a few weeks out of surgery and If you have severe pain be sure and take your temp, you might have an infection. If you are running a temp of 100 or more get to the ER. Do not let them put you on antibiotics until they have a culture of what might be infecting you

There is NO REASON TO STILL BE IN SEVERE PAIN, I have a Fentanyl patch that I have used for the past 10 yrs and it turned my life around, I now have a life. The patch is not for post surgical pain it is for chronic pain only.

I take 2 Aleve every morning and this has really made a difference in how often I take my oral pain meds.

Work with a pain management MD, I worked with one for 4 yrs. and he got me on a very good regimen for my back pain and the nerve pain in my legs.

Do not let them do more than 1 surgery because you then run into scar tissue problems.... I had 7

Facet blocks don't work nor do cortisone shots. If by chance you get relief it is temporary.

Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. Don't just let the MDs pull you around by the nose hairs.

Learn as much as possible about your condition and find the very best MDs to deal with it. I have had the same core group of MDs since this all started. My ortho MD recently retired but he made a referral to a MD and sent my records over to him with a letter containing a summary of all that we had been through.

If you feel comfortable talking about your condition get with a support group.

Good luck.

I had laminectomy in Sept '10. Today is26th March 2011 and i am in worse pain than before the surgery. I have trouble sleeping at night as i cannot get comfortable. I roll on my side. That lasts 20 mins then i am sore and have to change positions. This continues through out the night. Getting up in the morning is a night mare as i am very sore and stiff. I suffer from numbness down my right leg and into my toes. I also have right hip pain. Have been doing physio once a week and hydro therapy once a week too. I am at my wits end and just want to feel life without pain and numbness. I am 43.

[/She who has hope~has everything ..arabian proverb

I have read many of the postings and I am now 2 weeks post op from a laminectomy/discectomy L5/S1 which seems to be common. I originally was scheduled for a fushion S1, L5 and L4. My neurosurgeon said there was a small chance that we could avoid the spinal fushion. My surgery lasted 4-5 hours, and I didnt remember anything, not even recovery...I jusgt remembemy family around my bed. I was in the hospital from fri and discharged Monday afternoon. I had 35 stiches only because the possiblity of fushion. The surgeon did state that "my spine fused itself" so I was unsure what that meant. Being post op 2 weeks just had the stiches out today. I no longer have that crippling radiating pain shooting down my left leg. I do remember when I did awake...I was freaked out because my left leg below my knee was numb/asleep. It was the wierdest feeling ever....I wanted to smack it to wake it up, but as the days go on the numbness has lessoned, which I was told could last 3 months and sometimes never go away. but I believe my will and what I have been through will allow me to become active again, maybe not now, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I will also state that I read in a previous post that someone stated that when the nerve wakes up it feels like a bee sting, and totally agree with that, and its very sensitive. I am a single mother of two little ones, and have been blessed with help from 7 am until the girls go down to sleep. I am completely on bed rest and will start swimming next week. I am sooooooo glad I have done the surgery, and didn't end up getting the spinal fushion. ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed **
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THanks,
Angela

I had a lumbar Laminectomy with fusion (hardware) Feb 28th 2011. I also had two 6 inch rods and 10 nuts and bolts to correct my Scoliosis in L1 through L5. My surgery was from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM. I spent 4 of the most miserable days of my life in the Hospital under Morphene and additional drugs that created constipation for a week. It has been 33 days and down to two pain pills a day and walking 1/2 mile daily plus therapy and swimming. I am 71 years in very good health and condition but have lost 12 pounds due to loss of appetite because of nausea from pills. I can now stand for over 20 minutes without losing any feeling in legs. I no longer use any back brace or walker. I have been told I can play golf in 6 months from surgery, so excited to be on way of recovery. I was playing slow pitch softball 4 days a week before surgery and curious if I can ever play again. I do wear a electronic harness 4 hours a day to grow the bone back from laminectomy bone removal. The neo surgeon has said everything is lined up well and he is very excited with the results of the surgery and so am I. I hope and pray to never experience this type of surgery again.

I am 4 weeks post op  (L4-5 Lumbar disectomy) now and yesterday started driving for the first time in 8 weeks with Bio kenetics rehab starting in 4 days time. 8 weeks ago I felt as though I was at the prime of my life doing at least 1 triathlon a week and swimming almost 3 Km a day, healthy diet, healthy life etc. When for no apparent reason I woke up one morning with mild back ache, this ache rapidly developed into Sciatica over the period of 1 week with intense lightening pains shooting up and down my left leg and buttock. After 3 weeks I was diagnosed with Sciatica, however no x rays or MRI had been done to prove the diagnosis. During the course of the next week the pain grew so intense that I could not sit on the toilet. As a result of this I proceeded to stop eating in fear of not being able to go the toilet. Obviously I started getting weaker till after 1 week of no food I was admitted to hospital for an MRI scan. However there was one more symptom to come, and this was that 2 days before admission I stopped passing urine apparently caused by the damaged disc pressing into a nerve. Needless to say I was catheterised immeadiately, had an MRI and a couple hours later underwent an emergency lumbar disectomy. Fortunately as soon as I woke up after the opp I noticed that the pain in my leg was gone and 4 weeks later has still not returned, I do from time to time feel a slight twinge or pins and needles feeling in my leg however it has so far not developed into anything worse. I would hate to think of what my life would have been like if I did not have the operation. I have since heard that this type of operation has a 5 - 15 % failure rate, what I would like to ask any one who may know, is what are the do's and dont's to avoid this going wrong and if the operation does fail how long after the op are you still at risk of having the disc fail before it is back to full strength again. And finnaly to those of you who have been enduring the pain of sciatica my thoughts are with you and those around you as the past 8 weeks were without a doubt the lowest of my life.

Tomorrow is my big day - Lumbar Laminectomy in L4/L5/S1. I was told just last week that I need surgery and now it's happening! I have no idea what to expect, all I care about is getting rid of this pain. I'm 20 years old but feel like I'm 80. I just want to know how long it will take until I can feel 20 again?? I'm so excited, I can't wait for tomorrow!

Good luck with the op, just make sure you have a really good neuro surgeon, as this is most probably one of the most influential things which happen in your life. As per my post above yours, I was in intense pain prior to the op but now 60 days on, I am back at gym, cycling, swimming, cross trainer and light weights including bio kenetic therapy every week. I hope your op goes really well, but don't over do it after the op and ask the doctor as many questions as you possibly can as this will guide you through your healing period

I had my surgery in September 2010.  Leading up to my surgery I could not sit, stand or lay down for more than a few minute.  Could not find relief anywhere.  My surgery lasted 6 hours.  I spent 4 days in the hospital.  I was not prepared for the recovery time.  I was instructed to lay flat and not get up unless to go the bathroom for several weeks.  After 3 weeks I was able to go up/down the stairs once per day.  My bedroom got really small!  I followed my instructions to a T.  After 5 weeks I could sit for short periods of time.  Then baby steps beyond that, short walks and such. 

Now that it is all behind 8 months out.  I am back at the gym 3-4 per week.  I ran 5 miles yesterday. I do still have a small amount of numbness in my feet but very tolerable.  I was told it could take 2 years before that is completely gone.  I would read all horror stories online since I had nothing else to do during my recovery and was frightened.  My message is find a great surgeon and follow instructions carefully.  I am so happy with my results.   ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed*** Please read our Terms of Use

Here is my story. Had a laminectomy at L5-S1 twenty one years ago. Great result and did well for almost entire time. April 23 at age 66 had some lumbar pain after rowing machine use. Pressed on with 18 holes of Golf. This was a Sat. Pretty sore then. By Wed pain, numbness , tingling and weakness in Left Lower extremity. Went to spine surgeon/sports med guy Thursday. Plain film showed narrowed disk space at L5-S1. Left foot described by doc as "dead" w/ no reflexes. Sent to PT and tried. Epidural couple weeks later helped with pain. CT and MRI showed same defect plus profound herniation at L4L5. PT guy compassionately threw in towel and told me he would see me post surgery. Today is Sat. This past Tuesday had minimally invasive diskectomy at L4L5. Nasty rogue disk removed in 2.5 hr surgery. DC'd from hospital on Wed. Have had significant pain relief but still intermittent minor pain through the day if positions not changed frequently. Three good walks per day, about quarter mi each. Sleeping well on Tylenol. Lortab filled but not in use. Nerve in left leg and foot seems to be waking up but clearly its going to take awhile. Struggling to be patient. Ready to get back to office, courtroom, golf course, gym and boat...not necessarily in that order. Determined to do so. Good luck to all back patients.

I had a laminectomy (L5/S1) and discectomy on May 14th 2011 and despite a few complications everything has progressed well.

After the surgery my surgeon had said my back had been in a right mess and that I was milimeters away from being permanently paralysed from the waist down, so my recovery has been a success compared to what could have been. 

When the recovery nurse woke me up my first words were 'my legs feel heavy but I can move my toes'.  This was an amazing feat especially as I had entirely lost the use of my left leg before the operation.  The heavy feeling was due to having an epidural during the op.

I still have pains in my left leg but apparently this is due to the nerve being so pinched prior to the op that it is still sending messages to my brain, this will however rectify itself over time.

I am returning to work next week on a part-time basis and I am still recovering with each day.

This operation gave me life back and I will always be thankful to my GP for initaially sending me for the MRI scan (especially as another doctor at the surgery diagnosed my symptoms as a pulled hamstring!!) and my consultant/surgeon for carrying out the operation within 2 weeks of my MRI scan.

 

 

 

I had laminectomy and bilateral pedicle fixation L3 to S1 in February 2011.   I still have numbness in my right leg from knee down.  R ankle has a tight band across and not normal function of leg.  I can shuffle around on my own and am able to do most things like personal hygiene and a bit of housework.  BUT I am worse off than before the surgery as I have constant pain and need to take round the clock pain medicines such as Oxycontin twice a day - have managed to get down to 10 mg twice a day.  However I need to take "supportive" painrelief such as paracetamol and or aspirin.   Before surgery I worked full time taking sick days sometimes due to pain which I took medicines for and usually managed to go to work again after a couple of days on rare occasions 3 - 5 days twice  during the year before surgery, then acute admission to hospital early February which made me decide to accept offer of surgery.  

Maybe I should not have had surgery?   Who knows?   How would I have gone without the surgery?  Can anyone tell me if I did right or wrong?

The fact of the matter is that I tried to go back for part time work three days a week for a few weeks during August and September but by the end of September I gave up and have not worked outside home since ......   After 43 years of being in the workforce I now am a disabled person.  This was not the "retirement" I had hoped for let alone planned !

I don't know if there is anything I or anyone can do about it.  The surgeon says that "unfortunately the surgery has left you with a permanent disability".

I am 60 years of age.

Sincerely

Leesa